The Village
There may very well be spoilers in this entry, consider yourself warned.
I’m not going to compare this movie to The Sixth Sense, because that isn’t fair nor relevant. I’m not going to comment on if this particular film is M. Knight Shyalaman’s best work or not, because that isn’t fair nor relevant. And I am certainly not going to cry about the lack of a super-surprise ending, because that’s stereotyping and isn’t fair nor relevant. I will, however, tell you what I thought about The Village.
After seeing this movie, I read numerous reviews on some of the more popular user review sites. Only 2 in 10 reviews actually said what they thought of The Village, which was the reason for the above statement. Focusing on a director’s body of work in order to review his latest, doesn’t make any sense to me. A Director’s style is visible not just in story-line but also in visuals and pacing. Expecting to see Jaws when you went to see The Terminal would have been asinine, wouldn’t it be the same if you expected Sixth Sense when you saw Unbreakable, Signs or The Village. So please, if you’re reading this, stop playing the comparison game, it’s not fair nor relevant.
The Village is set in, what appears to be, an old-English village in rural Pennsylvania - my home state. Almost like the beginning of War and Peace, you could say; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Respect, courtesy and love reign as kings in this small village, yet when someone falls ill of even the slightest ailment, they are almost sure to die due to lack of modern medicines. This is something I’ve often thought about, when reflecting on which time period I would have found most interesting to live in. I assure you, the 21st Century would not be my first choice, and it appears as though the 19th wouldn’t be either.
Rather than tell you the entire plot right here, as some have done, I’d much rather focus on the key elements of the movie which I enjoyed or didn’t much enjoy.
What I liked about The Village
M. Knight Shyalaman is by far my favorite writer/director combination. If you’d like to find out more about his methods, be sure to pick up the DVDs of his films, as each of them have special features giving you a glimpse of what he thinks about when creating his movies. That being said, The Village’s style is very attractive. Crisp, clear visuals lend to some incredibly moving moments.
Since this film really isn’t about 1 particular character, you don’t end up having overly strong feelings for any of them. Rather, your drawn to pull for the good or bad people, and those you can choose yourself. This is something I enjoyed, because although some of the bad guys in the movie aren’t your typical villains, by the end of the movie you might end up not-liking someone you thought you would or should have liked. If you haven’t seen this movie, that sentence probably had you bleeding out of your ear.
Use of color is incredibly prevalent in all of M. Knight’s movies. After viewing The Village, Chris, my Wife and I, decided we would watch The Sixth Sense. The visual clues which are extremely prevalent in Unbreakable and The Village also exist in the Sixth Sense, which was something I was unaware of. Thank heavens for the DVD-format. The Village’s use of color, reminiscent of The Sixth Sense, is extremely well-thought-out. I’m sure after viewing it a second time, I’ll be able to pick up even more uses of the good and bad colors. In fact, I’m almost certain that I’ll be able to see into the future of the film based on color choices in the beginning of the film, but that is just a hunch.
Casting The Village was probably pretty difficult. I like how M. Knight works with actors more than once in succession, because I believe it actually helps the actors provide the Director with what they would like to see. Mel Gibson, rumored to be one of the elders of The Village originally, was obviously too busy with other obligations of his own - which he had alot invested in - which I think explains his absence in the film. I’m a fan of Jaquine Phoenix even prior to Signs, and I thoroughly enjoyed his portrayal of an almost silent yet fearless young man named Lucius. Bryce Dallas Howard is getting some nice things said/written about her performance as a blind girl named Ivy - and for good reason. Her acting gives new meaning to breakout role. Almost every role in this film is notable, partly due to the fact that you are not overly attracted to one specific character, which I think lends itself to the whole Village scenario.
The crime scene, which was the only act of violence in the film per se, was crafted perfectly. If there was a rewind button in the theatre, I’d have pushed it. For any of you that have had a traumatic or semi-traumatic experience, you can certainly relate to the pacing in this scene. A little note on pacing; M. Knight has been given many nods for his ability to pace a film almost perfectly. Even if you don’t like Unbreakable or Signs, you can break the movie down and see that his pacing is extraordinary. This is mostly due to the fact that he writes the entire screenplay, which would make him the best judge of when certain things should happen during a film. More on this another day perhaps.
What I didn’t like about The Village
The ending was rather sudden, and left 1 or 2 questions that needed to be answered. Typical of M. Knight he allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions on certain things. In this movie, however, there is 1 significant thing that I can not see the advantage of leaving unanswered. That being the color with which Ivy saw Lucius. Ivy has the ability to see a person’s Aura, or energy. Some, Lucius and her Father were mentioned, give off a color. Ivy flirts with telling Lucius, on numerous occasions, what his color is. This fact, in the end, is never told. I suppose I could guess and say that his color is red, and she was not supposed to say that word through most of the film - but that would be a guess based on almost nothing. Again, seeing the film again may lead to clues to help me draw the correct conclusion.
Conclusion
I think that anyone that enjoys good film-making should definitely see The Village. Contrary to it’s marketing efforts, this movie is not a horror film. However, through much of the beginning of the movie there are some more than tense moments. I think that desensitization to “what’s scary” has led me to have different opinions than most, and you may very well find the entire movie frightening. Looking back, The Village grossed $50M+ in it’s first weekend primarily due to it’s marketing, which shows the ability of Hollywood to fool it’s audiences into reaching for it’s wallet. But, even though some would disagree with me, none of the trailers ever lied. Watch them again - then go see the movie. Twice.
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